1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to hernia repair methods. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods for positioning a surgical patch to a tissue site of a hernia using light.
2. Description of Related Art
A hernia is a protrusion of a tissue, structure, or part of an organ through injured muscle tissue or an injured membrane by which the tissue, structure, or organ is normally contained. Some examples of hernias include: abdominal hernias, diaphragmatic hernias and hiatal hernias (for example, para-esophageal hernia of the stomach), pelvic hernias, for example, obturator hernia, anal hernias, hernias of the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs, intracranial hernias, and Spigelian hernias.
Hernias may be surgically repaired, and are principally repaired by pushing back, or “reducing”, the herniated tissue, and then reinforcing the defect in injured muscle tissue (an operation called herniorrhaphy). Modern muscle reinforcement techniques involve placement of a surgical patch, such as a surgical mesh, near the injured tissue or defect to support the defect. The surgical patch is either placed over the defect (anterior repair) or under the defect (posterior repair).
A variety of different fixation devices are used to anchor the surgical patch to the tissue. For example, a needled suture may be passed through or around the tissue near the defect to hold the surgical patch in a position which spans the injured tissue. In other examples, staples, tacks, clips and pins are also known to be passed through or around the tissue near the defect to anchor the surgical patch in a position which spans the injured tissue.
When applying a surgical patch during minimally invasive surgery, it is imperative that the surgeon know the precise location, size and shape of the hernia defect in order to properly place the surgical patch. However, since the bounds of the hernia defect are generally internal, visibility is often limited and placement of the surgical patch can be cumbersome. Thus, a continuing need still exits to provide a means for facilitating the effectiveness of the placement of surgical patches used to surgically repair hernias.